Beyond The Crimson Gate-Chapter 50: Starwalker

The hum grew louder and closer. The building hummed in resonance.

A small dot appeared in the distance and before they could blink, it was suddenly in front of them.

The "dot" was a large ship that was the size of a small state from what they could tell.

Kale’s breath seized in pure wonder at what the military had achieved without anyone having prior knowledge.

The ship’s gangway fell to let everyone enter.

Mr. Stone walked in front of them and pointed at it, "This is Starwalker. Your residence in the task force."

He walked into the ship and waited for them to follow suit.

Kale inhaled sharply and followed everyone as they entered. The gangway rose as soon as he boarded.

The inside of the ship was exactly as he had imagined. It was metallic with faint lights flashing occasionally.

Multiple lights lit up above them as they walked, illuminating their path.

Mr. Stone turned to face them, ’Welcome.’ His voice rang in their minds. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

He began drilling them on the ship’s rules.

After he finished, he nodded.

’So the basic rules are to avoid killing one another, fighting unless it’s in the training room and to avoid sexual relationships.’ Kale nodded mentally. Those rules were easy to avoid breaking.

His eyes trailed over to Eric, ’Well except the one on murder.’ Kale’s body flowed with murderous intent.

He knew that killing a human was different from doing the same with a beast but the difference couldn’t be that much.

Mr. Stone whipped his head to Kale, ’Is this child really considering murdering someone?’

He tilted his head and looked at the person Kale was so focused on killing. The potential victim was the average gym head.

There seemed to be nothing wrong with the man, making him wonder the reason for Kale’s hatred.

’Oh well. There’s nothing I can do. Thinking is different from action. That’s why we have a conscience.’

Ming and Ian were talking about the strange habitation when they noticed Kale still glaring at Eric.

Eric, on the other hand, couldn’t care less. He knew that if Kale attacked, he would be punished.

So all he could do was to throw the occasional taunting smirk at Kale, hoping he’d go ballistic.

Then, using the opportunity, he’d beat up Kale, maybe even "accidentally" kill him under the banner of self-defense.

Inhaling deeply, Kale calmed down and raised his hand to ask Mr. Stone a question.

"Why are we waiting exactly?" His question was met with a supportive hum from Judith and Ming.

Mr. Stone smiled slightly, "Who said we are waiting? This ship started moving as soon as the gangway closed."

The information startled everyone. They had been moving without even sensing anything.

"In fact, we should be close to picking the next batch of recruits from Military Base Beta." He resumed.

As if on cue, the gangway fell, and a batch of recruits entered, led by a strange man who lacked all facial features.

He had no nose, ears, eyes, or mouth. The only reason Kale was able to tell his gender was because of the man’s build.

"Reid." Mr. Stone walked up to him and shook his hand.

Reid turned his featureless face to everyone, as if observing them.

The bottom of his face stretched as though smiling but rather than being comforting, it made shivers run down Kale’s back.

’Ahh! What the hell?! This guy is creepy.’ Kale screamed in his mind and Mr. Stone stifled a laugh that almost escaped from him.

Reid turned to the recruit behind him, "Kids. Here you go." He finally spoke.

Kale’s eyebrows furrowed, ’How exactly did he speak?’

Unknown to him, everyone had the same thought.

The recruits walked forward and stood firm under the scrutinizing gazes of Kale’s group.

One of the recruits walked forward.

He had piercing gold eyes and distinct white hair that made him stand out from the start.

"Hi everyone, I’m Felix." He extended his arm out to Kale.

The latter took his hand for a shake and felt Felix’s strong grip.

His grip became tighter and it was obvious that he was trying to crush Kale’s hand.

Pain shot through his hand but Kale didn’t wince or flinch. He just stood there in eerie silence.

Kale slightly tilted his head to the side and pulled Felix closer, reaching for his ear.

"I received twice this amount of pain just a couple of seconds into Dimension Zero." Felix’s eyes widened.

Of course, Kale was referring to the numerous fractures and broken bones he had received when he crash-landed into Dimension Zero.

"So you don’t try your bravado here, okay? You just might embarrass yourself." His voice dropped to a whisper.

Rage burned in Felix’s eyes and they in turn took a golden glow.

A wing made of golden energy spread out from his left shoulder blade.

Kale wasted no time and tapped his watch, his suit covering him within seconds.

He pulled out his sword and was ready to fight when a loud cough stopped them.

Mr. Stone glared at them, and the two put away their wing and suits, respectively.

Kale stared at Felix’s face, which had turned red from rage, ’Beast infusion. I wonder which beast it came from and what it can do.’

His eyes went to everyone, ’They all know how to use their beast infusion except me. I’m not even sure that there is a power for me to use.’

Time passed, and they picked up everyone. Then the ship physically shook as it began its final journey to where they’d be staying.

They had already been assigned rooms and they were in them right now.

_____

"What’s this I hear of you almost getting into a fight?!" A slim, sickly looking man with white hair yelled at Felix through his phone.

"Dad, I’m sor-"

"Don’t call me ’Dad’!" The man cut Felix off.

"Sorry, sir."

"Good. Now listen, I didn’t lose an arm and a leg to get you that beast infusion for games and sense fights!!!" The man stopped, coughing repeatedly until blood came out.

Felix wanted to speak, but the man raised a finger to silence him.

"I don’t have much time left and I won’t have you messing up my plans. We need the space compressor anti-chamber core and you will get it." The man’s words were final.

Sparing a second to look at his son in disgust, the man sucked his teeth before ending the call.

He fell on his knees coughing until he could barely breathe.

Then he slowly stood up and picked up his staff.

On the handle, the image of a snake coiled around a sphere was engraved into it.